Either way, I decided I wanted to see them live this year -- and that I wanted to hit up their post-show meet and greet. After all, it would be cool to say hey to a band in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, get their autographs and get a pic with them. However, the nearest weekend concert to northeast Nebraska (where I live) was in Elgin, IL on Saturday, Aug. 19 -- over 500 miles away. Good thing I love road trips!
I got up at 4:45 Saturday morning, jumped in my already-packed car and headed out to begin a five-day weekend. I hit U.S. Highway 20 near Randolph, NE and cut across all the way to Dubuque, IA before taking a brief detour into southwestern Wisconsin to add it to my "states I've visited" list. I later got back on U.S. 20 near Stockton, IL and after grabbing my first-ever truck stop shower in Hampshire, IL, it was on to Festival Park.
I got to the park about 5:15 p.m., got my VIP goodies and then tried to spend some time in the shade -- and visiting with other fans -- till the fun started at 7. Carl Palmer's ELP Legacy was great as expected, and it was my first time seeing someone play a Chapman stick, which is pretty fascinating!
Todd Rundgren's hourlong set began around 7:45 p.m. and he put on a good show (though I would have loved a performance of Bang On the Drum All Day!).
Yes took the stage around 9:15 and did not disappoint! I especially enjoyed "Time And a Word," "South Side of the Sky," "Soon," "Going For the One," "Don't Kill the Whale" and "Machine Messiah."
Some thoughts:
- I was impressed with Jon Davison on lead. He's got huge shoes to fill via the "other" Jon and I thought he did great.
- Billy Sherwood is a great choice to succeed the legendary Chris Squire on bass, in my opinion.
- Steve Howe (the Jedi Master) seemed a bit more relaxed than expected on stage. Musically, he was his usual self -- I'm still amazed what he can do with a steel guitar!
- The twin drummers of Alan White and Dylan Howe are a cool addition. They did not both play together on every song, but they had a good sound all night.
- Last but not least, Geoff Downes is still the man on keyboards.
Of course, the meet and greet was cool. Geoff was cool as always -- he remembered me from Asia's Sioux City meet-and-greet in June (the fact I wore my Thomas Magnum Hawaiian shirt to both didn't hurt!) and I exchanged thoughts on the Seahawks with Alan. I thought Billy and Jon were cool, though we didn't get much time to visit per se. I kind of froze a bit by the time I got to the Howes, but did manage to tell them that they favored and that Steve was one of my favorites I also got my Relayer and Live at Mesa albums signed.
As I said, great night! Making it even better was spending 2 1/2 days in Missouri seeing family and friends!
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